Table Of ContentReading and Writing for Civic Literacy
Cultural Politics & the Promise of Democracy
Henry A. Giroux, Series Editor
Empire and Inequality: America and the World Since 9/11
by Paul Street
The Terror of Neoliberalism
by Henry A. Giroux
Caught in the Crossfire: Kids, Politics, and America’s Future
by Lawrence Grossberg
Reading and Writing for Civic Literacy: The Critical Citizen’s Guide to Argumentative
Rhetoric
by Donald Lazere
Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life, Second Edition
by Henry A. Giroux
Forthcoming
Reading French Feminism
by Michael Payne
Listening Beyond the Echoes: Agency and Ethics in a Mediated World
by Nick Couldry
Not Only the Master’s Tools: African-American Studies in Theory and Practice
edited by Lewis R. Gordon and Jane Anna Gordon
Reading and Writing
for Civic Literacy
The Critical Citizen’s Guide to
Argumentative Rhetoric
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California Polytechnic State University
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
First published 2005 by Paradigm Publishers
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Lazere, Donald.
Reading and writing for civic literacy : the critical citizen’s guide to argumentative rhetoric / Donald Lazere.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59451-084-9 (acid-free paper)—ISBN 1-59451-085-7 (pbk.:acid-free paper)
1. Persuasion (Rhetoric) 2. Citizenship—United States. 3. Civil society—United States. 4. Critical
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Permissions
Mario Savio, “An End to History.” Humanity, December 1964, 18–24. Used by permission of the estate of Mario Savio; Adolph Reed,
“Majoring in Debt,” The Progressive, January 2004, vol. 68, no. 2, 25–27. Reprinted by permission from The Progressive, 409 E.
Main St., Madison, Wisc. 53703, www.progressive.org; David Moberg, “Students Stand Up for Workers’ Rights,” In These Times,
May 27, 2002, 21–22. Reprinted with permission of In These Times; Henry A. Giroux, “The Abandoned Generation: Democracy
beyond the Culture of Fear.” Used by permission of the author; David Gates, “The Voices of Dissent.” From Newsweek, November
19, 2001. © 2001 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission; Susan Sontag, “Thoughts on September 11,” New
Yorker, September 24, 2001, 32. Reprinted with permission of the author; William J. Bennett, “Faced with Evil on a Grand Scale,
Nothing Is Relative,” Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2001. Used with permission of the author; Michael Kinsley, “The Intellectual
Free Lunch,” New Yorker, February 6, 1995, 4–5. Used with permission of the author; Martha Nussbaum, “Can Patriotism Be
Compassionate?” Reprinted with permission from the December 17, 2001, issue of The Nation. For subscription information, call
1–800–333–8536. Portions of each week’s Nation magazine can be accessed at http://www.thenation.com; Diane Ravitch,
“Multiculturalism,” American Scholar, summer 1990. Used by permission of the author; Naomi Wolf, pp. 1–19 from The Beauty
Myth by Naomi Wolf, copyright © 1991 by Naomi Wolf. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc; Christina Hoff
Sommers, “The Backlash Myth.” Reprinted with the permission of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group from Who Stole
Feminism by Christina Sommers. Copyright © 1994 by Christina Sommers; Rush Limbaugh, “The Attempt to Destroy Clarence
Thomas.” Reprinted with permission of Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, from The Way Things
Ought to Be by Rush H. Limbaugh III. Copyright © 1992 by Rush Limbaugh; June Jordan, “Can I Get a Witness” © 1991 by June
Jordan; reprinted by permission of the June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust, www.junejordan.com; David Brock, “Strange Lies.”
From Blinded by the Right by David Brock, copyright © 2002, 2003 by David Brock. Used by permission of Crown Publishers, a
division of Random House, Inc; Larry Rohter, “Battle over Patriotism Curriculum,” New York Times, May 15, 1994. Reprinted by
permission of New York Times; Maureen Dowd, “Rescue Me, Please,” New York Times, June 7, 2000. Reprinted by permission of New
York Times; Mary Field Belenky et al., excerpt from Women’s Ways of Knowing (New York: Basic Books, 1986). Reprinted by permis-
sion of Basic Books; Peter Dreier and Richard Appelbaum, “The Campus Anti-Sweatshop Movement,” American Prospect, Septem-
ber-October 1999, 71–78. Reprinted by permission of American Prospect; David R. Henderson, “In Defense of Sweatshops,” Weekly
Standard. Used by permission of author; Becky Wildman-Tobriner, “Will Sex Stereotypes Never End?” San Francisco Chronicle Feb.
Continued on book page 561.
Contents
Acknowledgments x
Preface to Teachers (and Curious Students) xi
Part I: Preliminaries
Chapter 1: An Appeal to Students 3
English as a Survival Skill 3
Critical Education in Historical Perspective 13
Mario Savio, “An End to History” 17 / Adolph L. Reed Jr., “Majoring in Debt” 19 / David
Moberg, “Students Stand Up for Workers’ Rights” 22 / Henry A. Giroux, “The Abandoned
Generation: Democracy Beyond the Culture of Fear” 25 / Young America’s Foundation Website 29
A Preview Case: September 11, 2001 33
David Gates, “The Voices of Dissent” 33 / Susan Sontag, “Thoughts on September 11” 35 /
William J. Bennett, “Faced With Evil on a Grand Scale, Nothing Is Relative” 36
Chapter 2: What Is an Argument? What Is a Good Argument? 42
What Is a Good Argument? 43
Michael Kinsley, “The Intellectual Free Lunch” 45
Analysis, Synthesis, and Judgments 50
Style and Tone, Eloquence and Moral Force 51
Conclusion 53
Rhetoric: A Checklist for Analyzing Your Own and Others’ Arguments 54
A Historical-Causal Analysis of “The White Problem” 58
Chapter 3: Definitions and Criteria of Critical Thinking 63
Critical Thinking and Cultural Literacy 65
Making Connections 66
Dialogue in Critical Thinking and Literature 67
Recursiveness, Cumulativeness, and Levels of Meaning 68
Drawing the Line and Establishing Proportion 70
Ralph Waldo Emerson, from The American Scholar 72 / Walt Whitman, “A Noiseless
Patient Spider” 75 / Martha Nussbaum, “Can Patriotism Be Compassionate?” 76 / Diane
Ravitch, “Multiculturalism” 80
Chapter 4: Writing Argumentative Papers 89
Prewriting 90
Writing 90
Postwriting 94
Locating and Evaluating Sources 95
A Model of the Writing Process in a Student Paper 97
Naomi Wolf, from The Beauty Myth 108 / Christina Hoff Sommers, “The Backlash Myth” 118
Part II: Attaining an Open Mind: Critical Thinking and
Argumentative Rhetoric
Chapter 5: Viewpoint, Bias, and Fairness: From Cocksure Ignorance to
Thoughtful Uncertainty 125
Relativism and Commitment 127
v
VI CONTENTS
Biased and Unbiased Viewpoints: The ESBYODS Principle 128
Acknowledge Your Own and Opposing Viewpoints 129
Rogerian Argument, Believers and Doubters 130
A Semantic Calculator for Bias in Rhetoric 131
Case Study: Anita Hill versus Clarence Thomas 133
Rush Limbaugh, “The Effort to Destroy Clarence Thomas” 134 / June Jordan, “Can I Get A
Witness?” 136
Thomas vs. Hill: Postscript 1, 2001 141
Thomas vs. Hill: Postscript 2, 2004 141
David Brock, “Strange Lies” 142
Chapter 6: Questioning Culturally Conditioned Assumptions and
Ethnocentrism 148
Totems and Taboos 149
Ethnocentrism 152
American Ethnocentrism 154
Larry Rohter, “Battle over Patriotism Curriculum” 154
Questioning Capitalism 157
Phallocentrism 161
Other—centrisms 162
Virginia Woolf, from A Room of One’s Own 164 / Maureen Dowd, “Rescue Me, Please”
164 / Mary Field Belenky et al., “Objectivity in Connected Thinking” 166 / Richard
Appelbaum and Peter Dreier, “The Campus Anti-Sweatshop Movement” 169 / David
Henderson, “In Defense of Sweatshops” 176 / Benjamin Franklin, “Remarks Concerning the
Savages of North America” 177
Chapter 7: Overgeneralization, Stereotyping, and Prejudice 183
Prejudice 184
Class Prejudice 185
Reverse Prejudice 187
Becky Wildman-Tobriner, “Will Sex Stereotypes Never End?” 189 / Stephanie Salter,“An
Unexpected Education at St. Anthony’s” 190 / Donald Barlett and James Steele, “Life on the
Expense Account” 192 / James Patterson and Peter Kim, “Beverly Hills vs. the South Bronx”
194 / Stephen Moore, “How to Slash Corporate Welfare” 196 / Russell Mokhiber, “Corpora-
tions: Underworld, U.S.A.” 198
Chapter 8: Authoritarianism and Conformity, Rationalization
and Compartmentalization 204
Paddy Chayevsky, from Network 207
Rationalization, Compartmentalized Thinking, and Double Standards 209
Double Standards and Selective Vision 212
Other Defense Mechanisms 213
George Orwell, from 1984 214 / Progressive, from “An Interview with Adrienne Rich” 215 /
Katha Pollitt, “On the Merits” 216 / Jeff Jacoby, “Greens Dodge Links to Unabomber” 217
Chapter 9: Semantics in Rhetoric and Critical Thinking 222
Denotation and Connotation 223
Definition and Denotation in Argument 223
CONTENTS VII
Connotation in Argument: “Cleans” and “Dirties” 224
Extra! Update, “Language as a Key Mechanism of Control” 225
Euphemism 227
Abstract and Concrete Language 228
Unconcretized Abstractions 229
Literal and Figurative Language 229
Literal and Figurative Language in Literature 230
A Semantic Analysis of Rush Limbaugh 232
Summary: Applying Semantic Analysis 234
Henry David Thoreau, from Where I Lived and What I Lived For 235 / Mary Ann
Glendon, “When Words Cheapen Life” 236 / George Lakoff, “Framing the Issues” 237 /
Thomas Sowell, “Look Behind Statistics for Changing Definitions” 242
Chapter 10: Avoiding Oversimplification and Recognizing
Complexity 244
Recognizing Complexity 245
Reading Between the Lines 246
Irony 248
James Baldwin, “My Dungeon Shook” 256
Chapter 11: Some Key Terms in Logic and Argumentation 260
Deductive and Inductive Arguments 260
Implications and Inferences 270
Setting the Agenda 271
Tone and Style 273
Polemics 274
Ground Rules for Polemicists 275
Deroy Murdock, “Vouchers, Choice: Opposing Views” 275 / Thomas Sowell, “Chicken Little
Calling Out, ‘Global Warning’” 277 / Charles Krauthammer, “Lies, Damn Lies and Racial
Statistics” 278 / Robert Weissberg, “White Racism: The Seductive Lure of an Unproved
Theory” 280 / P. J. O’Rourke, “Closing the Wealth Gap” 283
Chapter 12: Logical and Rhetorical Fallacies 288
Glossary of Logical and Rhetorical Fallacies 289
Chapter 13: Causal Analysis 298
Meredith Willson, “Ya Got Trouble” 300 / Jonathan Kozol, “Other People’s Children: North
Lawndale and the South Side of Chicago” 304 / William J. Bennett, “Crisis in American
Education” 314 / Susan Douglas, “Post-Feminist Swill Redux” 321 / Thomas Sowell,
“Equality: A Grand Fallacy” 322
Chapter 14: Uses and Misuses of Emotional Appeal 324
Appeals to “Cleans” and “Dirties” 324
Puff Pieces and Hatchet Jobs 325
Holly G. Miller, “Bunker Hunt’s Greatest Investment” 326
Predictable Patterns of Wartime Rhetoric: Appeals to Fear and Pity 332
Mark Twain, “The War Prayer” 339 / Paul Fussell, “The Real War 1939–1945” 341 / “War
Is the Supreme Drug,” An Interview with Author Chris Hedges 343
VIII CONTENTS
Part III: Thinking Critically About the Rhetoric of Politics
and Mass Media
Chapter 15: Thinking Critically About Political Rhetoric 351
Prestudy Exercises 351
Political Semantics 351
Liberalism, Conservatism, Democrat, Republican 352
Socialism, Communism, Marxism 354
The World Political Spectrum 355
The American Political Spectrum 358
A Guide to Political Terms and Positions 358
Notes on the Guide to Political Terms and Positions 362
Predictable Patterns of Political Rhetoric 367
A Note on Twenty-first Century Modifications to Table 15.1 368
Political Viewpoints in Sources 368
California Voter Information Booklet, “Political Party Statements of Purpose” 373 / Steve
Brouwer, “If We Decided to Tax the Rich” 377 / David Horowitz, “The Intellectual Class
War” 381 / James Pinkerton, “Ventura: Act Got Old, but the Message Prevails” 384 /
Lawrence Britt, “Fascism Anyone?” 386
Chapter 16: Thinking Critically about Mass Media 391
Do the Media Give People What They Want? 391
Gabriela Montell, “A Professor Challenges the Press” 393
Are News Media Objective? What Are Their Biases? 396
The Debate over Political Bias in Media 398
Conclusion 407
Edward S. Herman, “The Illiberal Media” 407 / Bernard Goldberg, “Networks Need a
Reality Check” 411 / Bernard Goldberg, “Liberal Hate-Speech” 413 / Fred Barnes, “My
Sports Right or Left” 416 / Susan Gerhard, “Outfoxed Tweaks Rupert Murdoch’s
Mayhemosphere” 418
Assignment for a Paper 421
Part IV: Deception Detection
Chapter 17: Special Interests, Conflict of Interest, Special Pleading 425
Allan B. Hubbard, “‘Iron Triangle’ Would Quash Competitiveness” 429 / Henry A. Waxman,
“Quayle Group Meddles With Our Safeguards” 430 / Edward M. Kennedy, John D. Dingell,
and Henry A. Waxman, “Letter to Dr. David Kessler” 431 / Jim Mann, “Corporate Funding
Taints Public Debate” 433 / Bruce J. Schulman, “The Historic Power of Special Interests” 435 /
John Brain, “When Money Talks” 436 / Mildred K. Cho, “Secrecy and Financial Conflicts in
University-Industry Research Must Get Closer Scrutiny” 438 / Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, “Fat
and Happy in D.C.” 441
Chapter 18: Varieties of Propaganda 444
Invective, Smearing, Disinformation 445
Lobbying and Public Relations 447
Government Public Relations; The Military-Industrial Complex 448
CONTENTS IX
Aldous Huxley, “Propaganda Under a Dictatorship” 451 / Bret Watson, “How to Watch the
Next War” 453 / Joel Bleifuss, “Flack Attack” 455 / 60 Minutes, “Confessions of a Tobacco
Lobbyist” 459 / Manohla Dargis, “Truth, Moore or Less: Fahrenheit 9/11” 463
Chapter 19: Advertising and Hype 468
Are You Taken In by Ads? 469
Advertising Sells More than Products 470
Political Advertising 471
Hype 472
Daniel Boorstin, “Extravagant Expectations” 473 / Center for Science in the Public Interest,
“Ten Food Secrets You Should Know” 475 / Joan Ryan, “Children Now Facing Adult Heath
Issues” 476 / Robin Andersen, “Road to Ruin: Sport Utility Vehicles and the Greening
of Environmental Destruction” 477
Part V: Putting It All Together in a Long Paper
Chapter 20: A Case Study: The Rich, the Poor, and the Middle Class 485
Sklar versus Weicher 486
Holly Sklar, “Let Them Eat Cake” 486 / John C. Weicher, “Wealth-Gap Claptrap” 489 /
Hinteraker and Johnson versus Barlett and Steele / John H. Hinderaker and Scott W.
Johnson, “George Bush’s Tax Return” 492
Applications in Student Papers 497
Summary of Suspicious Statistical Arguments 500
An Outline of Conservative and Leftist Arguments on the Rich, the Poor,
and the Middle Class 500
David R. Francis, “The CEO Makes What? Return of a Fair-Pay Debate” 506 / Elizabeth
Carnell, Left Watch: Why Try Holly Sklar’s Socialist Plans for Economy When United States
Is Doing Just Fine? 507 / George Will, “What’s Behind Income Disparity?” 509
Chapter 21: Collecting and Evaluating Opposing Sources:
WritingtheResearch Paper 512
Assignment for an Annotated Bibliography and Working Outline 513
Sample Working Outline, Annotated Bibliography Entry, and Term Paper 513
A Model Student Research Paper (Using MLA Style) 516
Chapter 22: Documentation 528
Citations in Your Text 528
Works Cited Section 529
Chapter 23: Research Resources 531
Sources in Print 531
Online Resources 532
Glossary of Rhetorical and Critical Thinking Terms 539
Works Cited 548
Index 553
